Foundation footer digging device



Dec. 9, 1958 JOHNSON 2,863,233

FOUNDATION FOOTER DIGGING DEVICE Filed May 17, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheeb 1 j/g -i INVENTOR 74075; H. TO/M00 ATTORNEYA Dec. 9, 1958 JQHNSQN 2,863,233

FOUNDATION FOOTER DIGGING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 17, 1956 PF 0 '3 INVENTOR' 079/1755 14. Jabwra/v ATTORNEYS 1958 J. A. JOHNSON 2,363,233

FOUNDATION FOOTER DIGGING DEVICE Filed May 17, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 BYE/M27047 W ATTORNEYS FOUNDATION FOOTER DIGGLNG DEVICE James A. Johnson, Elizabethtown, Ky. Application May 17, 1956, Serial No. 585,427

3 Claims. (Cl. 37-117.5)

The present invention relates to a foundation footer digging device and has for an object to provide a machine or an attachment for bulldozers or tractors by which the digging of footer trenches in basements is made possible expeditiously and economically.

The present accepted method for digging basements is the use of a bulldozer or other similar digging machinery. After digging the basement, it then becomes necessary to dig an additional footer trench which is some eighteen inches in width and some ten inches deep. This trench must be fiush with the basement wall and is for the base of the foundation of the house.

The standard procedure for digging this footer trench is with pick and shovel, which entails extra and expensive labor. The alternative is to dig the basement larger so that it will accommodate more elaborate machinery, and then after the footer trench is dug and the walls are in place, the excess earth is pushed back in place against the walls.

In the single embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and herein described, the footer trench digging device is so constructed and arranged that it may be conveniently and quickly attached to the standard bucket of a bulldozer or other digging machinery, and an object of the invention is to provide a convenient form of footer trench digging device and of connector means by which this device may be quickly and conveniently attached to a side wall of the standard bucket of the bulldozer.

The invention has for a further object to provide a footer trench digging device which may generally conform to the shape and digging requirement form of the standard bulldozer bucket, which device is suitable for the digging of the trench and suitable for extending below the line of the cutting blade of the standard bucket, the improved device being preferably provided with cutting blades at opposite edges thereof, whereby the device may be reversed in position for attachment to either side of the standard bucket so as to increase the availability of the device for cutting trenches in all parts of the basement.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved trench digging device with means for carrying the same by the standard bucket of a bulldozer, in which rigid connectors are provided, and having means for carrying the device in spaced relation to the side wall of the standard bucket in correct position for the digging of the trench.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a foundation footer digging device shown as a bulldozer of conventional form.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the bulldozer and ited States Patent 2,863,233 Patented Dec. 9, 1958 device of this invention shown in the act of digging a trench.

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the same showing the relation of the device to the floor of the basement and the basement wall.

Figure 4 is an isometric view of the device of the invention apart from the bucket and bulldozer.

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the same, taken on a smaller scale.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the standard bucket of a bulldozer and the improved device shown in unattached position, and v Figure 7 is a similar view with the device attached to the bucket.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, and in the first instance to Figures 2 and 3, 10 designates the floor of the basement and 11 the basement wall, while 12 indicates a footer trench which is immediately alongside the wall 11.

At 13 is represented a conventional form of bulldozer having a standard form of bucket 14, with devices 15 to raise and lower the bucket. The side walls of the bucket are indicated at 16 and the forward cutting edge at 17.

The only modification of this bucket to receive the device of this invention is to provide pairs of holes 18 and 19 in the side walls 16 thereof, and at the location more particularly shown in Figure 1.

Pursuant to the invention, a footer trench digging bucket 20 is provided having side walls 21 and 22 and end walls 23 and 24 joined by an intermediate connecting wall 25, which latter is preferably curved to form a continuous connection with the end walls 23, 24 so that together with the side walls 21, 22 the device 20 assumes the form of a scoop or bucket. This bucket 20 is in its longitudinal dimension greater than that of the standard bucket 14 but it is considerably narrower laterally than the standard bucket.

Cutting blades 26 and 27 are provided at the edges of both walls 23 and 24.

One form of means for attaching the footer trench digging bucket 20 to a side wall 16 of the standard bulldozer bucket 14 is illustrated more particularly in Figure 4, in which a pair of pins or studs 28, 29 are welded or otherwise secured to one side wall 22. of the bucket 20 with the axes of these pins substantially normal to the plane of the wall 22. At their outer portions the pins or studs 23, 29 are provided with outstanding shoulders 30, 31 of substantially greater diameter than that of the pins or studs 28, 29, such shoulders being in spaced relation to the wall 22 by a distance which is that desired between the near wall 22 of the bucket 20 and the adjacent wall 16 of the standard bucket 14. These shoulders 30, 31 are also greater in diameter than the holes 18, 19 in the side walls 16 of the standard bucket 14, so as to engage against the outer surface of the adjacent wall 16 and prevent the pins 28, 25? from passing through these holes 18, 19.

However, the pins 28, 29 carry reduced shanks 32, 33 which are of a diameter to pass through the holes 18, 19 and enter into the interior space of the standard bucket 14, as shown in Figures 3 and 7. The shanks 32, 33 are provided with slots 34, 35 to receive wedges 37, 38, which also appear in Figures 3 and 7.

A shoe 36 is welded or otherwise secured to the exterior surface of the side wall 22 of the bucket 20 and may be curved to generally conform to the curvature of the intermediate connecting wall 25. This shoe,-also of metal, is adapted to present its edgewise dimension against the external surface of the adjacent side wall 16 of the standard bucket 14 when the shanks 32, 33 are passed through the openings or holes 18, 19 and the wedges 37, 38 driven in place.

In the use of the device, the bulldozer 13 and standard bucket 14 are operated in the usual manner for digging the basement, during which operation the trench digging bucket 20 is not in place.

After digging the basement with a bulldozer, the bucket 20 is attached to the bucket 14 by passing the shanks 32, 33 of the pins 28, 2% through the holes 18, 19 and setting the wedges 37, 3b in place. These wedges may be driven through the slots 34, 35 by hammer blows in order to set the shoulders 3t), 31 well up against the external surface of the adjacent wall 16 of the standard bucket 14, the purpose being to take up all slack and make tight connections, as these connections must withstand the thrust imposed upon the bucket 2d incident to the forward drive of the bulldozer 13 in moving along to dig the trench 12.

In the manner as shown in Figures Zand 3 the trench along each wall ill is dug for the footing of the foundation, the operation being carried out without disturbing the walls 11 or the floor iii of the basement.

The bucket 28' may be constructed of sheet steel or other appropriate material, being approximately eighteen inches in width but considerably longer than the standard bucket so that it may extend substantially ten inches below the standard bucket 14.

The connectors involving the pins 28, 2% and associated parts not only hear their proportionate part of the strain, but also they keep the supplementary bucket 20 away from the standard bucket some four to six inches so that the weight of the bulldozer and the action of the bulldozer tracks will not disturb the footer trench being dug, thereby allowing a clean ditch to be made without the necessity of further cleaning or manual operations in it.

It will be appreciated that the supplemental bucket 20 may be attached to either side of the regular bulldozer bucket 14, thereby permitting the entire trench for the footer to be dug. This is done by reversing the device 20 end for end so as to bring the connectors and the wall 22, carrying the same, next to the selected wall 16 of the standard bucket 14. This is made possible by the double cutting blades 26, 27, one being provided at each end of the bucket 20. It will be understood by those skilled in this art that with the attachment of this invention, the foundation footer trench in a basement may be dug flush with the wall 11. In other words, the device 20 is so constructed, arranged and supported that it will work directly against the basement wall 11.

The shoe 36 braces the attachment against the regular bucket, thereby giving additional strength and support.

It will also be appreciated that with the device of this invention it is no longer necessary to originally make basements large-r than required, and then, after the foundation footer ditch has been dug, to fill the excess earth removed from the basement back into the basement. In other words, the device of this invention will dig foun- 2,ses,23e

dation footer trenches without the requirement for making additional excavation and will dispense with the need for more elaborate machinery, at the same time reducing the cost of this work and reducing the time for its performance.

The invention is applicable to any tractor having a bucket. Such tractors are usually referred to in the trade as traxcivator tractor.

While the drawing shows the auxiliary bucket as having a greater longitudinal dimension than that of the tractor bucket, it will be understood that such comparative longitudinal dimensions are not critical but that the longitudinal dimension of the auxiliary bucket may conform more closely to the contour of the standard bucket on the tractor. Such latter dimension facilitates the earth loading properties of the attachment.

Although I have disclosed herein the best form of the invention known to me at this time, I reserve the right to all such modifications and changes as may come within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For use with the standard bucket of a bulldozer or excavating tractor, a foundation footer digging device comprising a supplemental bucket having side walls, end walls and a connecting wall connecting the end walls and the side walls, and means on one side wall for the attachment of the supplemental bucket to the standard bucket at either side of the latter, said supplemental bucket having cutting edges at opposite ends thereof.

2. For use with the standard bucket of a bulldozer or excavating tractor, a supplemental trench digging bucket, and means for mounting the supplemental bucket at the side of the main bucket with its forward portion extending below the main bucket, said means comprising spaced pins on the side of the supplemental bucket having parts to space the two buckets apart and means to secure the pins to the main bucket, and a curved shoe on the side wall of the supplemental bucket offset from the pins to engage the side wall of the main bucket to reinforce against digging thrusts of the supplemental bucket.

3. For use with the standard bucket of an earthworking machine, a foundation footer digging device comprising a supplemental bucket having at least side and end walls, and means on one side wall for the attachment of the supplemental bucket to the standard bucket at either side of the latter, said supplemental bucket having cutting edges at opposite ends thereof.

References Citetlin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,726,463 Rogers Dec. 13, 1955 2,738,601 Skjaerpe et a1. Mar. 20, 1956 2,783,558 Morgan Mar. 5, 1957 

